Wednesday, August 06, 2003

Somaliland rejects attempts to bring it into peace talksNAIROBI, 4 Aug 2003 (IRIN) - The authorities in the self-declared republic of Somaliland in northwestern Somalia have reiterated their rejection of attempts to bring them into the ongoing Somali reconciliation talks in Kenya.

According to a statement issued on Sunday by the office of the region's president, Dahir Riyale Kahin, Somaliland is not a party to the Somali peace talks.

And the Somaliland information minister, Abdillahi Muhammad Du'ale, told IRIN on Monday that Somaliland would welcome any peace deal between the parties "in the former Italian Somalia", but noted that "this has nothing to do with Somaliland". MORE